Malaria. Coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a section through a misshapen red blood cell infected with a malaria parasite (Plasmodium sp.). The blood cell is coloured red, and is swollen by the single-celled malaria parasite (blue). Plasmodia are spread to humans by tropical species of mosquito (Anopheles sp.). Once in the human body, the plasmodia spread to the liver and then the blood, where they multiply inside red blood cells, bursting out when mature to reinfect other blood cells. Release of plasmodia into the blood causes bouts of fever in malaria that can be fatal. Magnification: x8,250 at 6x4.5cm size. Magnification: x33,000 at 8x10 inch size.